Mirth AND MALADY Homecoming Queens and Depicting Chronic Illness
The majority of storylines about illness and disability on our screens go something like this: a healthy person gets sick or injured, that person grapples with the sickness or injury, then they either lose the battle or get better and return to their previous life with nothing but a renewed vigour and perhaps a small scar. A nice, neat storyline that boosts ratings and adds drama. But, in real life, rarely are things so neatly wrapped.
SBS On Demand’s seven-part series Homecoming Queens looks at the reality of chronic illness that such storylines often shy away from. Co-created and co-written by Michelle Law and Chloë Reeson, the show is inspired by the pair’s own experiences with health and how it has informed their friendship. Each short episode centres on the fictionalised versions of Law (played by Law herself) and Reeson (Liv Hewson of Santa Clarita Diet fame), who navigate life as twentysomethings adjusting to adulthood post-diagnosis.
I speak to Reeson about how the show came to fruition, and they explain how heavily friendship informs Homecoming Queens. Law had developed alopecia – an autoimmune disease that leads to hair loss – as a teenager, and the pair fostered a closeness after Reeson was diagnosed with breast cancer. ‘We felt isolated,’ Reeson explains. ‘We didn’t exactly feel old,
